If you’ve been producing music for a while, you probably know that a lot of the commercial guitar VSTs or libraries out there are pretty expensive and not always easy to use. Although I own a few commercial guitar libraries, I also wanted to see what free guitar VSTs and sample libraries are available these days. I have to admit I was surprised by the number of interesting instruments I found. So, I’ve put together this list to talk about the best ones.

19 Best Free Standalone / VST Guitar Amp Simulators For PC, Mac. Written by Jacob. X50 V2 is rather versatile, and you can get anything from a crisp clean tone, all the way to heavy metal distortion. But even if you get a free. Spicy Guitar is a free plugin by Keolab which is a physical model of an acoustic guitar synthesizer. The great things about Spicy Guitar is that it has 2 different positions for each chord, chord inversions, one-hand up and down strumming, adjustable strumming speed, assignable switch key to trigger controls and much more.

For this article, I looked at both acoustic and electric guitars but left out guitar amps and other effect plugins (I will cover these in an upcoming article).

Free Acoustic Guitar Plugins

Ample Sound: Ample Guitar M II Lite

Format: AU, VST, AAX, RTAS / 32 bit + 62 bit
OS: Mac, Windows

Audio examples:

Ample Sound is a Beijing-based company that has been creating guitar and bass VSTs since 2011. The Ample Guitar M II series aims “to bring the Martin D-41 Acoustic Guitar sound to your studio.” Luckily for us, the company also released a free lite version of the instrument, which comes with a reduced sample rate, fewer articulations and features and a lower sample count than the original (by now, version III has been released already).

This doesn’t prevent Ample Guitar M II Lite from being the best sounding (non-Kontakt) acoustic guitar in this list, though. The samples sound full and lively and can be triggered directly through MIDI (or your DAW) as well as through a built-in sequencer, the “strummer.”

The strummer makes it super easy to build patterns out of single notes, up and down strokes and mutes. Additionally, there are a bunch of effects and features available to change the tone. One of my favorite features is the doubling switch, which adds width to the instrument in an instant.

Another particular useful feature of Ample Guitar M II Lite is that it shows you which string corresponds to the note you’re playing. This quickly helped me create more realistic arpeggios.

If you also use Guitar Pro Tab, you can even import your tabs into Ample Guitar M II Lite. Note that you are limited to the first four frets of each string when you’re using the lite version.

There are so many fully functioning knobs and switches in this free plugin that I didn’t manage to get to all of them in my 45 minutes of playing around with it. What more can you ask for in a free guitar?

You can get Ample Guitar M II Lite on the Ample Sound website.

This is a quick introduction to the instrument:

DSK Music: Dynamic Guitars

Format: AU, VST / 32 bit + 64 bit
OS: Mac, Windows

Audio examples:

This guitar VST has gotten a lot of attention lately, especially since the release of LifeStyleDidIt’s video “I FOUND THE BEST FREE GUITAR VST” (see below). DSK Music is a project by a Spaniard named Víctor who has been making hundreds of free virtual instruments since 2002.

DynamicGuitars contains three different instruments: an acoustic guitar, a nylonguitar and a steel guitar. It also offers control over the envelope of thesamples as well as the dynamic range and the voice mode (poly, mono, legato). All the included guitars feel smooth, warm andthick but could use a little EQ action for clarity.

In this video, you can see the plugin in use:

You can download DSK Dynamic Guitars here.

Pettinhouse Free Acoustic Guitars

Pettinhouse is a project by Andrea Pettinao. The company sells a wide variety of guitars and also offers a handful of free guitar sample libraries. Let’s take a look at them!

FreeAcousticGuitar

Format: Kontakt 3 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

Free AcousticGuitar is a simple but well-recorded and programmed acoustic guitar Kontakt library. The samples are loaded as a multi and are separated into attack+ sustain, releases and fret noise sounds and come in different velocities. The samples are well mixed and sound wonderfully natural.

FreeClassicGuitar

Format: Kontakt 5 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

When you open the free version of Pettinhouse’s Classic Guitar, you’re getting a multi consisting of two instruments: classic guitar and noises. These work well together and offer a realistic and nice warm sound.

Yummy Beats: Modest Guitar

Format: Kontakt 5 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

Yummy Beats is a platform for drums, loops and Kontakt instruments. You can also find a few free instruments on this site, including the free Modest Guitar. This Kontakt library delivers a present sound with round robin and three articulations: acoustic guitar, flageolets and fx guitar. Unfortunately, I found that the fx guitar produced noticeable crackle sounds (might have been my setup!). However, my favorite part is the flageolets with their well-rounded tone, anyway.

I found the steps to get Modest Guitar a little complicated. You have to open a Yummy Beats account, go to this page and enter the unlock code that you find here. If you’re looking for a free, quality flageolet sound, this is a good instrument to try out, though.

Here’s an example of a song that uses Modest Guitar (from the Yummy Beats YouTube channel):

Alternatives

Didn’t find what you were looking for? Here are some more acoustic guitar libraries:

• DSK AkoustiK GuitarZ (VST / Windows / 32 bit)
• DSK Guitars Nylon (VST / Windows / 32 bit)
• DSK Guitars Acoustic (VST / Windows / 32 bit)
• DSK Guitars Steel (VST / Windows / 32 bit)
• Spicy Guitar (VST / Standalone / Windows, Mac / 32 bit + 64 bit)
• Big Cat Instruments General Midi Soundset (has a guitar section / Kontakt)

Free Electric Guitar Plugins

Now, let’s talk about electric guitars.

Spitfire Labs: Peel Guitar

Format: VST2, VST3, AAX, AU; 32 bit + 64 bi t
OS: Windows, Mac

Audio examples:

Looking for a smooth moody guitar that fits into an ambient track or your next film score? Peel Guitar might be it! Originally, the guitar was sampled by Christian Henson in 2006 and, according to him, was used all over his scores. The instrument consists of three presets that differ slightly in guitar tone. Each guitar feels soft and comes with a long release, which adds to the atmosphere of the instrument. The minimalist interface offers control over the volume, velocity, reverb and “tightness” of the sound. To get Peel Guitar, you will need to install Spitfire Labs first (also free).

Iridium Iris: Lethality

Format: VST, 32 bit + 64 bit
OS: Windows

Audio examples:

The following examples were created with Lethality and Guitar Rig 5:

Lethality was released in 2014 by Iridium Iris. The developer’s website has been down for a while, so it’s not clear if they’re still working on new instruments. However, Lethality is one of their products that you can still come across today.

I wasactually quite surprised to see how many functions are built into Lethality.Besides “regular” single notes, the plugin also has open string and mutedstring articulations. Additionally, you can switch on hammer-ons, pull-offs andportamento articulations, which can be triggered by playing legato notes.

To find theright articulation on your MIDI keyboard, you can take a look in the manualthat comes with the instrument. When you’re as used to Kontakt as I am, it’s alittle inconvenient that the keyboard layout (including articulation zones andkeyswitches) is not displayed visually in the plugin. This means that you’llhave to remember the keyswitches and articulations you’ll need when playing.

If you’renot sure how to program your guitar, you can use the built-in riff patterns.They can be activated directly from the plugin or exported as MIDI clips intoyour DAW of choice. Truthfully, though, it makes more sense to program your ownMIDI clips, if only to create a more dynamic guitar part.

Although Lethality offers a distortion function, to get a good sound you will most likely want to use an external amp simulation or other effects on this instrument.

As the official developer website is down, you can get Lethality here.

Impact Soundworks Shreddage Stratus Free

Format: Kontakt 5.7 or higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

The Shreddage series by Impact Soundworks has been the go-to place for affordable guitar sample libraries for years. Recently, the company made a very generous gift to composers when it released a free version of its Shreddage 3 Stratus guitar. Compared to the commercial version, the free version only offers neck pickup (instead of neck, middle and bridge), 12 frets (instead of 24), a reduced range and fewer articulations. However, this shouldn’t stop you from creating great, realistic electric guitar parts with this library. Up to 24 samples per note, including sustain, palm mute and choke articulations make this an amazingly usable library that will fit into many productions.

Amazingly,the free version of Shreddage 3 Stratus also comes with full mix consolefunctionality. In the mix console you can add effects, whether that’s pedals,amps, cabinets or EQ. The included presets (called “snapshots” by ImpactSoundworks) sound instantly great and are compatible with other Shreddageinstruments (as long as they use the same console). This is definitely the bestand most versatile free electric guitar on the market right now – so if youhave a full version of Kontakt, don’t miss out on this one.

Check outthe following video for an overview on how to use Stratus Free:

Get Impact Soundworks Stratus Free here (you will need to get a free account to download the instrument).

Pettinhouse Free Electric Guitars

Just as Pettinhouseoffers a few great acoustic guitar libraries, it has also released a fewinteresting electric guitars:

FreeDirectGuitar

Format: Kontakt 5 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

The following examples were created with DirectGuitar and Guitar Rig 5:

Using this direct guitar library by Pettinhouse gives you maximum flexibility for sculpting your own tone. It comes with a range of four octaves and also includes a few effects (open the “strum” and “layers” instruments to find out where they are located on the keyboard). Amp and effects are not part of the instrument, so you will need to add one yourself. I used Guitar Rig 5 for the audio examples.

FreeMute&Slap

Format: Kontakt 3 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

Mute&Slap is a very specialized instrument: The articulations range from mute tones in the lower velocities to slap notes in the higher velocities and are great for adding some funky notes to your beats and songs. While Free Mute&Slap also contains a couple of effects and amp choices, it might be worthwhile trying out a few different amp simulations with this to have more control over the tone.

Here’s avideo review for Mute&Slap:

FreeFunkyGuitar

Format: Kontakt 3 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

Need more funk in your music? Check out Pettinhouse’s Free FunkyGuitar. Besides regular plucked string sounds, this library also contains strum loops and muted strum loops. These are especially convenient (programming funk guitar rhythms manually is hell) and can be tempo-synced to the host or adjusted manually (in a range of 85 bpm – 130 bpm). The library comes with a built-in reverb, delay and phaser and a selection of amps. The guide tab will help you find your way around this instrument quickly.

FreeWarmJazz

Format: Kontakt 3 and higher (full version required!)

Audio examples:

When I was researching for this article and came across WarmJazz, a realization hit me: There are barely any jazz guitar sample libraries on the market. Apart from the occasional funk library, most current guitar libraries and VSTs are oriented towards rock, metal and blues. If you’re looking for a jazzier sound, though, you should check out WarmJazz by Pettinhouse. In its free version, it comes with seven presets and a range of effects (chorus, reverb, delay, compressor). The quality of the sound is indeed warm and jazzy and hard to re-create with any other library.

KaroryferSamples Cute Emily Guitar

Format: SFZ, Kontakt 5 and higher (full version required!)

The next three examples use Guitar Rig 5:

Cute Emily Guitar is originally a project by Karoryfer Samples and was first published in 2014. To quote the creator:

“There area lot of guitar samples out there intended for lots of styles of musicguitarists like, from Latin jazz to metalcore, but this library is for musicguitarists really hate, from hip-hop to EDM. It’s designed to be easy to usefor producers who don’t necessarily know a lot about guitars and don’t need awhole lot of different articulations, control over left-hand position, note offgroups, etc. Instead of all that you get a fat, percussive sound that’s greatfor crisp rhythms.”

Indeed, the instrument, which is a sampled Epiphone Emily the Strange, has a very pronounced, percussive attack. As the samples were recorded directly, it makes sense to run them through an amp simulator of some sort (I used Guitar Rig 5 for my tests).

You have the choice between two versions of this instrument: The original Karoryfer Samples version in SFZ soundfont format or a Kontakt version by Bigcat Instruments. The Kontakt version includes various effects, such as a phaser, chorus, reverb, delay, compressor, distortion and EQ. You can also add tremolo and adjust the velocity curve, as well as the attack and release.

Alternatives

Looking formore options? Check out the following instruments:

• Greggjazz Suburban Guitarist (VST / Windows / 32 bit)
• Krakli Strat-A-Various (VST / Windows / 32 bit)
• SuperRiff: SuperRiff Guitar (VST / Windows / 32 bit)

Over to you…

Do you have any other favorites that you didn’t see included on this page? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: When you buy through our links, we may get a commission at zero cost to you.

When I first get started with music production, I wonder why some music producers would want to mess with a distortion effect in their tracks, perhaps, I initially have an understanding that there is a limit for how loud an audio signal can be, once this limit is reached, it would distort and produce an annoying, raspy, fuzzy loud sound that is unwanted for the hearing.

This is where I got it wrong, I was thinking in terms of digital clipping, although not bad as sometimes the DAW peak meter can be somewhat pretentious (use your ear for accurate judgment), but it gets worse when your sound is being cut off when the signal reaches 0 dBFS (full-scale) on a meter, which results in an unsmooth distortion.

Welcome to the world of analog distortion where it is more forgiving in how it distorts when compared to digital, the output waveforms are “rounded” when it reaches the limit. Analog distortion is used creatively by musicians and recording engineers all the time.

Does that mean, you need to buy analog hardware to use a distortion effect, hell no! There are lots of VST plugin emulations that can act as close as possible to the real thing, and honestly, how you use them is strictly a matter of choice, just don’t overdo and trust your ears.

For example, you can use them to warm up your sound, by giving them more character and not too harsh type of sound, and you can also go the other way round, e.g creating an in-your-face, crunchy type of effect. Anyways, it is up to you on how you use it, let’s go over the best free and paid distortion effect VST plugins of the year 2020.

Please use the table of contents to navigate around!

Page Contents

• Distortion Effect Plugins (Paid)
• Chorus Effect Plugins (Free)

Distortion Effect Plugins (Paid)

Starting with…

1.) Trash2 + Expansions

The first giant on our list is the Trash2 distortion plugin by renowned Izotope, this new version is built to feature an entirely new sonic architecture, with optimized performance, pristine sound quality, and better support for modern hosts & formats.

Let’s deep dive into Trash 2 main features:

The edge Trash 2 has over other distortion plugin is that it combines the power of multi-band, dual-stage distortions, and advanced post-filtering for immediate sonic transformation. If you want a warm crunch on the midrange or you want to spice your low end without sacrificing the quality of the sound, then Trash 2 is what you want, it does the job without little to no side effects.

Ideally, you’ll want to use distortion for your guitar or perhaps basses, well, that’s an old story, you can use it for your drums, synths, woodwinds and more as long as it musically connects the rest of the element in the mix.

What if you could design your distortion algorithms? With Izotope Trash 2, you can simply draw in, tweak, and create a plethora of distortions, if you are like me, I’ll go over the 60+ distortion algorithms and adjust to your heart desire.

Creating a distortion algorithm is one thing, morphing sound from one object with the Convolve module is another thing, with this module you can load any .wav or .aiff file into Trash 2, and create a powerful sonic characteristic of your wildest imagination onto any track or instrument., all done with a single mouse click. Also, the Convolve module includes over 100 impulse responses—a collection of amps, objects, animal sounds, and mouth shapes that are ready and waiting to transform your sound.

Another interesting thing about Trash 2 is that you can control the frequencies you want into distortion or tame the ones you don’t want. On top of that, you get over 20+ sweepable filters for tons of tonal options that range from clean and warm to fat and juicy to harsh and clipping.

What I do not like about Trash 2 is that there are lots of options to play with, just too many to count, so, if you are looking for an advance distortion plugin, then Trash 2 is the way to go, if you are looking for something simple and snappy, then I’ll recommend using either Ravage or Distortion Snapin, which are both covered on this list.

Key Features:

• Distort in ways you never dreamed with the Trash module’s 60+ distortion algorithms, perfect for transforming your sound into something never before heard
• Design your unique distortions, from massive to mild and everything in between, with a new, customizable, multiband Waveshaper
• Let your tracks inhabit any space or object with the new Convolve module. Choose from over 100 impulse responses or load your own to put your bass in a washing machine or your keys in a cave
• Find a new voice: make your audio speak and growl with two redesigned Filter modules, each one featuring new vowel formant filters, screaming peaks, node modulations, and more
• Start trashing your audio immediately with an extensive new preset library and an ear-friendly Limiter that ensures you can play without fear
• A Sampling of 30+ Impulses: Voodoo, Muck, Gravel, Big Wheel, Magnum, Taxicab, Powerman, Ignite…
• A Peek at 70 Patches: Electric Blaze, Hard Cider, Parasite, Filter Shred, Bleached, Ugly Couch…

System Requirements:Acid pro 7 vst plugins.

• Mac: OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion – macOS 10.15 Catalina
• PC: Win XP (32–bit Service Pack 3) – Win 10
• AAX (64–bit), AU, RTAS (32–bit), VST, VST3

Let’s get onto the next one…

2.) Subvert

Subvert comes bundled with a plethora of features to create a great distortion effect. It incorporates 5 effects: multimode distortion, FM ring modulator, digitizer, metallizer and multimode filter. Also, it offers three parallel channels of each effects chain as well as a rich modulation routing options.

With its multi-channel layout and per-effect bypass option, you can readjust the order of effects in each chain in a variety of creative ways. On top of that, there are 15 effects processors, global EQ, numerous modulation options, and global randomizer.

Lastly, it has a multi-mode filter which gives you the possibility to set up multi-band effects patches where each channel is processing a different frequency range of the incoming signal. Bypassing certain effects within a chain allows you to globally reconfigure the order of effects, thereby giving you many options in setting up parallel and serial processing patches.

Unfortunately, there are way too many options in this plugin and a little hard on the eye, so, if you need something really simple, you might want to check other plugins on this list, other than that, it is a powerful plugin and gives you the flexibility to create an advanced distortion effect.

Key Features:

• Multi-Channel Distortion
• 3 Parallel Multi-Effects Chains
• Extensive Routing Options
• Extensive Modulation Options
• Global 3-Band Equalizer
• Scalable User Interface
• Win/Mac VST/AU 32/64bit

System Requirements:

• Mac: OS X 10.8 or higher (32 & 64-Bit / PPC not supported)
• Win: Windows 8 or higher (32 & 64-Bit)
• Minimum 2 GB RAM
• Minimum recommended CPU: Core 2 Duo, 2GHz
• CPU with SSE2 support
• VST/AU

3.) Ravage

Ravage is one of the most renowned and simple distortion plugins out there, it features six modeled distortion algorithms: Tube, Digital, Diode, Linear Fold, Zero Sq and Rectify, each with a different personality for adding grit and dirt to audio.

It also has a Drive control for pushing the signal harder, and depending on the level you aiming for, you can also experiment with the Destroy parameter for achieving an in-your-face type of distortion, just don’t overdo. There is also a high and low pass filter, as well as a Dark/Bright slider to weight the distortion’s energy.

One of my favorite features of this plugin is the Ravage’s Movement panel, which lets you assign modulators to one of eight destinations including Drive and Pan. You also can customize an LFO’s movement using nodes and curves to whip up customized patterns. To take your modulation further, Ravage offers playhead reversal, waveform smoothing, and pulse width manipulation.

Key Features:

• Heat things up with 6 distortion types: Digital, Tube, Diode, Lin Fold, Zero Sq and Rectify
• Add movement to parameters using custom-drawn modulation shapes
• Destroy parameter pushes the signal even harder through the distortion processor
• Pan the distortion across the stereo field
• Tailor the distortion response with filtering, input/output gain, and dark/bright weighting
• Reverse, Smooth and adjust Pulse Width for modulator signals
• Auto output control compensates level when Drive is increased
• Oversampling is set intelligently behind the scenes to ensure the best sound quality

System Requirements:

Free Metal Distortion Vst

• Mac: 10.12 – 10.14 (Catalina not supported)
• Windows: 7, 8 or 10 (32 & 64-bit)
• VST/VST3/AU/AAX (Pro Tools 11.0.2 or higher)
• RAM: 8 GB RAM or more is recommended. Plus at least 8 GB hard disk space for installation.
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer.
• Sample Rates: Supported sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz, in both mono and stereo.

4.) Screamo

Screamo is an intuitive distortion plugin that features a few numbers of knobs to get a superb distortion effect, let’s get to know some of its features:

Smear: This is two resonant shelving filters that producers a talk-box-like effect when used with restraint or full-on screamer when pushed hard. You have the option to play with 3 different styles of smear effect: upward, downward or two-way frequency modulation.

Up next is the Drive control which makes your drum loops or synth cut through the mix, this won’t work for all synth or percussion loop for sure, you just have to pay careful attention to details when applying the control. For example, you can push your signal from subtle saturation to extreme overdrive.

Also, you don’t have to worry about syncing, the Smear, Drive, and Makeup controls are all synced together allowing you to create tempo-synced scream effects that would normally be very complex to achieve with normal plugin routing.

I also love the way you can add more control to the distortion, for example, Screamo features the Shape, Speed and Smooth knobs for controlling and designing how you want the waveform to look like, It’s possible to create a slowly evolving talk-box effect or crazy fluttering overdrive – and everything in between.

Key Features:

• 25 Creative Presets for one-click transformations
• 3 Smear modes
• 3 Distortion types
• 5 Sync modulation wave shapes with adjustable start points
• Sync speed control with straight, triplet and dotted rhythms
• Real-time output level display and gain
• Full PDF Manual & Tutorial video

System Requirements:

• VST Windows 7 or higher (32 / 64 bit)
• VST / AU Mac OSX 10.7 or higher (64-bit only)
• AAX – ProTools 11 or higher

5.) Devastor 2

Devastor 2 is a plugin by the D16 Group, and it is built with multiband distortion unit in mind, it has full control over multiband processing, which can greatly enhance your sound,

The way Devastor work is that it has nine different connection topologies between its filters and diode-clipper. So, you can either process the signal before or after it gets fed into the diode-clipper, but some of the configurations even allow the filters to work alongside the clipper, which greatly increases the possible sonic palette.

Whether you plan on using it on a percussion loop, guitar, synth and whatever you can think, it can be used to improve the character of the sounds, just make sure you are gently applying it, this way, you can achieve more of a warmth and detail in your sound without introducing unwanted distortions, but if you are looking for something rugged and jagged, you can also push up the knobs accordingly.

Another great thing about Devastor is that D16 Group has built special antialiasing techniques to the output signal to make sure it was devoid of aliasing, this way, it sounds more interesting, warm, and musical, enjoy away.

Key Features:

• Probably the best diode-clipper emulation on the market today
• Analog-modeled filters of extremely high quality (refined filter models)
• Dynamics flattener (with improved peak detection and more natural envelopes)
• Optional output limiter
• Tag-based preset browser
• Two alternative GUI sizes
• MIDI-learn functionality throughout
• 9 different topologies of connections for filters and the diode-clipper
• 64bit internal processing
• Ultra-low aliasing output

System Requirements:

• Win: OS version Win 7, Win 8, Win 10
• Mac: OS version 10.7 and later
  
• CPU 1.5 GHz with SSE (Multicore system 2.0 GHz recommended)
• RAM 4 GB (8 GB Recommended)
• Software AU / VST / AAX compatible host application (32bit or 64bit)

6.) FabFilter Saturn Distortion Unit

The next distortion plugin on our list is the Saturn Distortion Unit by Fabfilter, it offers a range of numerous high-quality distortion models, which are inspired by the vintage sound of tubes, tape, and guitar amps. To top that, you get three creative distortion styles, with which you can smudge, stretch, crush, rectify, and clip your sounds in weird and unimaginable ways.

There is also a multiband design and per-band feedback module, which can help you narrow down on how you want the distortion applied to your track, on top of all this, you also have the ability to blend in modulation for a great warm and superb distortion effect.

Key Features:Best free vst for tech house.

• Sixteen different distortion styles, from subtle saturation to heavy guitar amps and bit crushing
• Multiband processing (up to 6 bands)
• Per-band drive, mix, feedback, dynamics, tone, and level controls
• Per-band solo and mute options
• Optional HQ mode (8x oversampling)
• Mid/side processing
• Interactive multiband display
• Easy-to-use interface, using our innovative what-you-use-is-what-you-see concept
• Endless modulation options, with all the 16-step XLFOs, XY controllers, envelope generators, envelope followers
• Easy drag-and-drop modulation with 50-slot modulation matrix
• Over 150 presets
• Modulation source signal visualization
• Interactive MIDI Learn
• Unique per-component presets
• Available in VST, VST3, Audio Units, AAX Native and AudioSuite formats (all both 64-bit and 32-bit), as well as RTAS (32-bit only)

System Requirements:

Windows:

• 32-bit: Windows 8, 7, Vista or XP
• 64-bit: Windows 8, 7 or Vista (x64)
• VST 2/3 host or Pro Tools

Mac OS X:

• 32-bit: OS X 10.5 or higher
• 64-bit: OS X 10.6 or higher
• AU or VST 2/3 host or Pro Tools
• Intel processor

7.) Distortion Snapin

Every kiloHearts plugin I have tried always have a form of simplicity, and to be honest, they are good and straight to the point. Distortion Snapin is one of their product and offers 5 different distortion shapes, which can be used to add a tinge of edge or rip things apart.

It is as simple as that, if you need something complex, then you can check one of the distortion plugins above.

System Requirements:

• CPU: 2 GHz or faster
• Memory: 1 GB or more
• Operating System: Windows (7 or newer) or Mac OS X (10.7 or newer)
• A VST / Audio Unit / AAX compatible DAW
• Supported formats: AAX / AU / VST2 / Snapin

Chorus Effect Plugins (Free)

Best Free Guitar Distortion Vst

8.) Temper Distortion

Temper is a modern digital distortion plugin by the Team at Creative Intent, it features a rich saturation stage and a unique phase distortion. You can use the variable saturation curve to add warmth and edge to your sound and let the phase distortion bring character and clarity through your mix.

It also features a simple resonant lowpass filter and a feedback path to drive the intensity of the tone.

If you are a plugin developer, I would want you to know that the open source is widely available, you can contribute and glance through the code, you can even the tweak it to your use cases, that is the beauty of open-sourcing.

Video Sneak Peek:

Features:

• Unique Phase Algorithm: Temper delivers a unique phase distortion algorithm that adds energy and clarity to any element of your mix.
• Before & After Visualisation: Temper’s design features a real-time comparison of your input and output audio spectrum to help you see your sound.
• Multiple Formats: Available in VST, VST3, AU, and AAX for both Windows and Mac OS X.

System Requirements:

• Windows: 64-bit VST2, VST3, AAX
• macOS: 64-bit AU, VST2, VST3, AAX
• Microsoft Windows 8.1 or newer, and
• MacOS 10.9 or newer. Note: Catalina
• compatibility and AAX support for Remnant is coming soon.

Free Vocal Distortion Vst

9.) Rangebastard (Free Distortion Treble Booster Plugin)

When it comes to emulating distortion effects, I give Distorque Audio 90% rating, and now they present Rangebastard which is an emulation of a Dallas Rangemaster with added controls for tweaking or for use as a full-range booster, an overdrive, and more. Also, it supports both mono, and stereo, and has 2x oversampling.

About Rangematser

The Rangemaster was a Germanium transistor treble boost developed in the 1960s. It and similar effects have been used by Eric Claption, Brian May, and many more great guitarists. It’s most often used to drive a distorted tube amp into more distortion, while boosting the upper-mids for a screaming lead sound.

Features:

• emulation of a Dallas Rangemaster
• overdrive
• full-range booster
• 2x oversampling always on
• Input Level – This is a volume control on the input of the effect. You can adjust this to compensate for different pickups, different input levels, etc. It can also be cranked to overdrive the simulated transistor.
• Input Filtering – This adjusts the amount of filtering that is used on the input, which gives the ‘treble boost’ frequency response. Turn it down for a full-range boost, or put it at maximum for the normal Rangemaster sound.
• Treble – This allows you to roll off some of the high ends. This is useful to avoid harsh distortion if you are using the effect as an overdrive. You can also turn this down along with the Input filtering control for a mid or bass boost.
• Transistor – This lets you pick between two simulated transistors
• Stereo/Mono – This switches the effect between Stereo and Mono operation.
• Grid Current – Turning this above zero activates an emulation of tube grid limiting clipping. That’s the tube distortion caused by the Rangemaster overdriving the input of a tube amp. The higher the control, the more distortion.
• Pickup – This emulates the interaction between the Rangemaster and guitar pickups. For the most accurate tone, set this to match the kind of pickup that you’re using. The ‘None’ setting turns off the pickup filtering, emulating running a buffer before the effect or using an active pickup.

System Requirements:

• PC and VST only.

10.) TAL-DAC (Free Bit-Crusher)

TAL-DAC is a free bit crusher and sample rate reducer by TAL Software.

It is based on the TAL-Sampler sound engine, and emulates a sample recorded on a low sample rate with reduced bit depth, and upsamples it to the desired host sample rate.

Also, it is possible to choose different algorithms for the upsampling process to emulate the characteristics of different samplers.

Features:

Free Distortion Vst

• A low and high shelf EQ together with an AMP Drive in the reconstruction section allows it to approximate the sound character of different sampler AMP’s.
• Also, it is possible to emulate hot recorded signals using the input volume knob.
• This plug-in can be used on a wide range of audio material, but it’s especially useful and authentic on drum sounds.
• Recording stage with input volume control and soft clipper (adds odd harmonics).
• Variable recording sample rate (1000Hz-44100Hz).
• Variable recording bit-depth (4bit-16bit) with different algorithms (mu-law, mu-law delta, linear).
• Reconstruction section with different reconstruction methods (hold, variable, linear, S1000/sinc).
• Very steep reconstruction filters (optional).
• AMP drive (add’s even and odd harmonics to the signal).
• A high- and low shelf filter (12dB).
• All non-linear components are 8x oversampled to avoid aliasing.

Best Distortion Vst